A Chance To Say I Love You
by luvin-benadam
Summary: When Jordan is kidnapped while working on a case with Woody, will the gang be able to save her in time and will Woody get the chance to tell her how he really feels? WJ...eventually
1. Why You?

He sat at his desk, running his fingers through his hair, willing the tears not to spill over his eyes. Seeing Jordan was even harder than he had innitially thought. And he hadn't even talked to her. Just being in the same room as her made him want to sweep her up in his arms, hold her, and never let her go. But no matter how much he wanted her, Woody still found a way to make his voice sound bitter and cold when he talked to her. Distant. And the look in her eyes when he said hello, it was as if something died in her. It was killing him.

Jordan sat in her office, willing herself not to think of the last time her and Woody had talked. She took deep, steading breaths, trying not to loose her composure. She was about to get up and find Lily, someone to talk to, when a knock came to her door. "Come in." she found herself saying. Bug pushed open the door and walked into her tiny office.

"Macy's handing out assignments. He wants you there." Bug said simply.

"I'll be right there." Jordan replied. Bug left the room leaving Jordan to her thoughts. After a minute of brooding, she got up and left, finding Garret, Lily, Bug and Nigel all standing in a circle.

"Jordan, nice of you to join us." Garret said scarcastically.

"Ya ya. What do ya got for me?" she asked him.

"Bug I want you and Nigel in with me, John Doe found naked in a housing development, beaten to a pulp with a blunt object. Jordan, 24-year old pharmacist found dead in an alley. Possibly a cereal killer. You're familiar with the Denton case two years ago?" Garret asked her.

"Ya. Female found in an alley, no apparent cause of death, wallet still in her pocket. Killer was ever found," Jordan relpied.

"Exactly," Garret said. "You're meeting Woody in the alley where she was found, behind Valehoe's Bar." he finished.

"Bug I'll trade you. You can have the possible cereal killer, I'll take the John Doe in the development." Jordan said, trying her best to avoid Woody.

"Nice try Jordan. This may have worked last time but not now. Besides, you're familiar with the case, I want you on it." Garret said, completly taking the wind out of her sails. "Woody's already there. I suggest you hurry up." And without another word, Garret left, leaving the four to exchage looks.

"Don't worry luv." Nigel said, trying to comfort her. "It'll be fine."

Jordan just looked at him, not buying a word about what he was saying. She sighed, then walked down the hall to her office, grabbed her coat, and left the three of them still standing there, watching her leave in a flurry. Jordan took the elevator down to the parking garage, got into her car, and drove haistily to Valehoe's Bar. She pulled up, seeing Woody's car parked across the street.She got out, wrapping her coat tighter around her body and followed the dimly lit path to the back of the bar. It was dingy, one street lap situated in the far corner, garbage bins overflowing with trash. It had the dinstinct smell of cat food and old shoes. Not remotly impressive. She saw Woody bent down over something sprawled over some garbage bags, Jordan assumed it could only be the victim. She slowly made her way over to him, careful not to startle him.

"How's it going?" her attepmt was frutile. Woody jumped when he heard her voice.

"Jordan, hey. It's going." His voice was still cold, though Jordan noticed that it wasn't as bitter as it was the last time. Suddenly his voice was very professional. "Twenty four year old female, no apparent cause of death, wallet still in her pocket, ID, money, credit cards, everything still there. Definatly not robbery." he told her. "Garret mentioned it being exactly like a case the morgue had two years ago."

"Ya it was. It wasn't my case but I'm familiar with it." Jordan said, trying to keep her tone casual. "I'm gonna do a walk around the perimiter. I'll be right back."

"I'll send an officer to go with you," Woody offered.

"No it's fine. I'll be ok." Jordan said, not wanting any help from him.

"Jordan..."

"Woody I'll be fine." she said. And then she left. Jordan followed the narrow path back out onto the dank street and went to the door of the bar that was roped off. After a quick examination, she moved to the other side of the bar where there was a little nook. Jordan bent down and sifted through the rubble that was burried under a mound of dirt. Suddenly, she felt the familiar touch of the cold metal of a gun pressed against the back of her neck.

"Get up," a gruff voice said. Jordan slowly stood up. "Don't turn around and don't say a word." he said.

"You know there's a whole task force just on the other side of the bar. Are you stupid?" she asked.

"I told you not to say a word!" With a rough movement, he spun her around and dragged her over to the sidewalk where a car was waiting. She tried to scream but his hand made its way to her mouth and clamped it shut. There was a momentary second where his hand left her mouth to open the car door and Jordan took full advantage.

"Woody! Hel..." she was cut off mid sentence but she had screamed loud enough to get the attention of the detective who was still bent over the body. He got up and bolted to the front, hoping to god that he wasn't to late for whatever trouble she had gotten herself into this time. He ran, hell-bent, to the front of the bar, just in time to see Jordan being shoved into the back of a car, a gun pressed to her head.

"Jordan," he yelled, desperate not to let the go. But by the time he had made it to the sidewalk, the car had already pulled away from the crub and was cruising down the street at an amazing pace. He just had time to catch a glipse of her face which was gazing out the back window, pleading for him to save her. But before he knew it, the car was gone, and never, ever, would he forget the look of fear burned into her eyes.


	2. Can't Give Up Now

He couldnt give up. Not now. He was so close. If only the car would slow down just a little bit, he could catch up and pull Jordan into his arms and never let her go. But no. He had to give in and let her go without an escourt. Eventually, he gave up and stopped running. By the time he had made his way back to the curb, seven police officers were standing around, all waiting for the word from Woody on what to do. He acnodedgled none of them but pushed past them all and pulled his cellphone from out of his pocket, flipped it open, and dialed Garrets number.

"Macy." he answered. Woody was silent for a moment, contemplating exactly how to break the news to him.

"It's Woody." he started, trying to buy time before her had to tell him.

"Detective. How can I help you?" Garret asked, wondering what the purpose of the phone call was.

"I've ah...I've got some bad news." Woody said, beating around the bush.

"Just tell me Hoyt. I dont have time for your games." Garret impatiently said.

"It's Jordan. She's been...kidnapped." Woody said. It was the first time that Garret had heard fear in the young detectives voice. Garret stopped dead in his tracks. Whatever he had been expecting, it clearly was not this.

"Where are you Woody?" Garret asked, hoping into the elevator and pushing the down button before he had even been given an answer.

"Valehoe's Bar. Right out front. I'm calling the unit in charge of kidnap right now. Hurry here Garret," Woody hung up before the ME could say another word and called the kidnap until. Both Garret and the unit were there in record time. The man in charge of hostage negotiation, a stout man who looked as though he greatly enjoyed his scotch, walked over to Woody and pulled him over to a bench and sat him down.

"Ok Hoyt. Tell me what happened." he asked. Woody noticed that there was no sense of remorse in his voice, no words of consolation. It was a question, just a blunt question. Woody ran his fingers through his messy hair before talking.

"She arrived at the scene and came around back. She spent, ah, five minutes in the back before walking around the perimiter to look for anything suspicious." Woody started.

"Did she tell you she was going or did she just take off?" he intrupted.

Woody sighed, clearly annoyed with the man. "No she told me she was going. I offered to send an officer with her but she refused." he said simply.

"Ok...then...?" her persisted.

"I'm getting there. I was examining the body when she screamed my name. She started to say help but was cut off. I ran around to the front and saw her being pushed into the back of a car with a gun to her head. I ran after the car for a block and then gave up whe it was out of sight," Woody finished. It was clear to the man that this was chewing the detective apart, slowly and painfully.

"Detective Hoyt, we're gonna do everything we can to find her. You have my word." he said, finally finding words of encourament. Woody looked up into his face, finding no consolation whatsoever. "But you need to tell me about the vehicle she got into. Bescribe it the best you can."

Woody thought as hard as he could back to what had happened. In all honesty, he had been paying no attention at all to the car. His cop nature had gone out the window as he saw the terrified expression on her face. He had been staring intently into it, trying to find some trace of the brave, head-strong Jordan he knew. But he never found it. Only fear.

"Umm...It was a Ford, Taurus I think. Beige. Last letters of the licence plate were 4G5. Temporary tire on the rear right. I want an APB out on it right away." For someone whos cop instinct had gone out the window when he saw her, he sure remembered a lot.

"Hoyt, this isnt your case anymore. I make the decisions from here on." he said roughly. But he did comply. He walked away from Woody and place an APB out on the car. Not ten minutes later, Ron Walkers (the hostage negotiator) cellphone rang.

"Walker." he announced in that same rough voice. "Uh huh. Yes. I understand." he said into his phone. His face fell as he turned to Woody who was sitting with Garret on the bench. "They found the car." he said simply.

"Then where's Jordan? Did they find her?" Woody asked, jumping up from his seat.

"The car was abandoned only four blocks from here. Lets go Hoyt! What are you waiting for?" he barked. Without another second, Woody hopped up and ran to the car, Garret hot on his heels. The three of them got into the car and drove there as fast as they could to the empty parking lot where the car was spotted. When they got there, Woody ran over to the door of the car, put his sleeve over his hand, and pulled open the back door of the car. What he saw nearly made his heart stop. The backseat of the beige Ford Taurus with the temporary back right tire was covered with blood.


	3. First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life

Woody couldnt help but stare. It was as though the life had been sucked out of him, and nothing in the world could pry him away. There was no way, absolutly no way, that all this blood was Jordans. It couldnt be. He was in denial and this was plainly clear to both Garret and Mr. Walker. Garret put a reassuring hand on Woodys shoulder and tried to guide him away. But he refused to move. He stood there transfixed, staring at the blood as though his sight alone would make it dissapear.

"Woody come on." Garret said, still trying to remove him from the frame of the door

"Garret this isnt right. This cant be her blood. It just cant be. Don't you think we would have knowen if she was dead? Dont you think we would have sensed it?"Woody said, finally allowing Garret to guide him away. Garrets hand still on his shoulder, he took him over to a bench by the curb and sat hm down.

"Woody, we need to stay positive. There's a chance that this blood isnt even hers. I wont know until I test it." Garret said, trying his hand at making Woody feel better.

"Garret," Woody said jumping up. "If the car is here, only three blocks from where she was taken, that means that they couldnt hae gone far. That they're around here somewhere!" Woody said excitedly.

"Not nessecarily Hoyt. The kidnapper could have had another get-a-way car waiting here for them. A smart plan considering they were stealing an ME from eight under a detectives nose." Garret said. Woody's face fell. "I'm sorry Woody. I didn't mean to blame this on you. This isnt your fault."

"Are you kidding? She told me she was going out front, I offered to send an officer with her but she refused and I accepted. They really did take her from right under my nose," Woody said, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

ooooooooo

Jordan sat up and sized up the room around her. She sat up and leaned over, coughing blood out of her mouth. She looked around. The walls were made of rough stone, a small bale of hay in the far corner. The only window was a small slit of a hole, just big enough for her to fit through. She stood up, feeling for the first time the extent of her injuries. Her left ankle was swollen and her ribs ached. Some of them were clearly broken. With her wieght resting on her right ankle, she leaned over and spit out more blood. Walking over to the bale of hay, she felt around it, trying to find some sort of hole that she could use as leverage to pull herself up. To her lick, there was a sizable hole that she shoved her hand into and pulled, yanking her aching body up ontop of the bale of hay. Sitting on her knees, her eyes were level with the window. Jordan looked out into what lay on the other side of the thick glass. It looked like a street. She could see a small lampost on the other side of the street outside a shabby looking house. By the looks of the street, she was somewhere on the outskirts of Boston, a crumby neighbourhood, probably lots of drug operations.

"You're never gonna get out that window. Believe me, I've tried." a voice said. Jordan wheeled around, startled. She couldnt see anyone there.

"Who's there," she asked defensivly.

"Relax. I'm a prisioner here, same as you." she said. "I'm an M.E from California. I came to Boston on vacation and was kidnapped."

"Wait I heard about that. Veronica Fordan right?" Jordan asked.

"Exactly," she said.

Jordan climbed down from the bale of hay and walked cautiously over to the shadows where the voice was coming from. Eyes adjusting slightly to the dark, Jordan could see the heafty figure of a plump, mid-forties woman, huddled in the corner of the room, back to the wall. "Jordan Cavanaugh," she said, extending her hand to the woman.

"I know," she said, grabing Jordans hand and shaking it. Jordan could tell that she had been there awhile. Her hands were rough and dirty, her once perfectly manicured nails caked with dirt and grime. "They told me you were coming." she said rather eerily.

"They?" Jordan asked, sittig next to the woman.

"Ya. The people who put us in here." she said.

"What are you talking about?" Jordan asked.

"If you think this is all random you're sorely mistaken. They're after M.E's." Veronica said.

"They? Who are they?" Jordan asked, a little more impatiently now.

"They're a socitiy that call themselves Team X. They're a group of men who met eachother in prison, they were all charged for accomplice to murder, convicted by certain medical examiners," she said. "They're in for revenge. Taking all people that convicted them down. You and I were both taken in for the same reason. I convicted James Baker, I believe you're the one whos testimony put Carlos Montgomery behind bars. At least until now." she finished.

"Wow," Jordan said.

"Ya. And dont think that you're gonna get out of here any time soon. I've been in this place for 5 months. The security is incredible." Veronica said.

"Well you dont know me very well. If you think that I'm really gonna sit down and accept this, you've got a lot to learn." Jordan said, refusing to admit defeat.

"Dr. Cavanaugh, believe me, there's no oe in the world that can save you here. Not anyone, as much as you want to believe it." she said.

Jordan shook her her, still not accepting what she was saying. "I'm not taking this sitting down. I refuse. Now you can sit here and wallow if you want, but I'm gonna try and find a way to get out." she said. Jordan got up and walked back over to the bale of hay, hoisting herself up onto it and staring intently out the window. Behind her, she heard the noise of a heavy metal door opening, the bottom scraping against the hard, stone floor. Jordan turned around. Standing in the door, a body-guard sized man was waiting, a gun laying across the palm of one of his hands. He looked menacing. Jordan hopped down from the hay as best she could without injuring herself any more. She stood on the opposite side of the room, glaring just as menacingly back at the man.

"Dr. Cavanaugh, so nice of you to join us. Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life." he said, his cold tone sending shivers down her spine.


	4. Email From Nowhere

Garret couldnt stand to see everybodys favourite detective like this. He was being eaten alive with the prospect of what could be happening to Jordan at this very moment, and this was painly clear to Garret. He sat down on the bench beside him, willing the tears not to spill over his own eyes. He had to be strong, for Woody's sake. He refused to show weakness.

"Where do we go from here Garret?" Woody asked him, not bothering to take his head out of his hands.

"We follow all leads. Get officers to go door to door and see if anyone saw anything, get Lily and some of the others to go through all of Jordans recent cases, see if anything out of the ordinary shows up. People who swore to get revenge, high rate criminals, anything that they think might lead to something. As for you and I, we go to her apartment, go through her stuff. I don't think this was random. I think they've been watching her for awhile. And knowing Jordan, she knew about it and didn't want to 'burden' anyone with the knowledge." Garret said.

Woody nodded, afraid that if he talked the tears he was holding in were going to come spilling out. Garret got up and Woody followed. The informed Walker of thier plan and he gave them a ride to Jordans apartment, telling them that if they found anything, to give him a call right away, and vise-versa. Woody and Garret climbed the stairs, walking slowly and painfully up to her apartment. Woody was dreading going in. Everything in there was hers, it all held memories that Woody wasn't quite ready to drag to the surface. Before he was ready, they were there. A sudden realization hit him.

"Garret do you have a key?" he asked. But the M.E was aleady a step ahead of him. He held out a key for Woody to see. Without having to say anything else, Garret inserted the key into the lock and turned, unlocking it and swinging the heavy door inward.

"So what exactly is it that we're looking for?" Woody asked, taking a deep breath as he looked around the room that screamed Jordan.

"Anything that looks strange to you. Letters, emails, strange notes. Whatever you can find," Garret said, walking over to Jordans drawers and pulling them open, sorting through her things. Woody was glad it wasn't him that was going through her underwear drawer. I would only be a reminder of what he hadn't gotten in to. Woody found her computer sitting on the counter and filpped it open, looking into the screen where it required a password.

"Hey Macy, do you know the password?" Woody asked.

"Try your name." Garret said simply.

"What?" Woody asked, clearly confounded.

"Your name. Either Woodym, Woodrow, or Hoyt. Or any of those in a combination. Shouldn't take you that long," he said.

Woody didn't understand it. Why would she use _his _name? And Garret was acting as though he had said nothing of concern. Woody shook it off, typing the name Woodrow Hoyt into the password box. It worked. The main screen loaded, Woody still trying to shake off the fact that she had used his name for her computer password. He found the email link and clicked on it, momentarily looking up at Garret while it loaded. "Find anything?" he asked.

"No not yet," Garret said in return.

Woody looked back down into the computer where the email had loaded. He scrolled through her emails, looking for anything strange. _Work emails, junk mail, more junk mail. _Then there was something that got Woodys attention. An email from an annonomous person, no subject. Woody double clicked it and it opened. He scrolled through it, eyes popping at what he read. "Garret you better come here," Woody said, anger replacing his shock and awe. Garret walked over, reading the email over Woodys shoulder. It read:

_Dear Dr. Cavanaugh,_

_We just thought that you would like to know about our plan. You see, we're out seeking revenge. I'm not going to tell you about why we want revenge, but what I can tell you is what we're after. You. And every other medical examiner that has had the misfourtune of crossing us. You see, I can't very well go and tell you exactly what it is that we're planning, it would take away all the fun. We'll be seeing you soon Dr. Cavanaugh, take care._

It wasn't signed. Garret visciously tore out the power cord and took off towards the front door, Woody hot on his heels.

"What the hell Dr. Macy? Where are we going now?" Woody asked, panting as he ran down the stairs after Garret. He had locked the door the second Woody was out of the frame and ran down the stairs, Woody still trying to figure out what was going on.

Garret responded to him as he ran down the stairs, out the door, and into his car, Woody spilling into the passengers seat.

"Nigel can trace the email. We can possibly find out where she is," Garret said while starting up the car and driving haphazardly back to the morgue. The second they got there, Garret thrust the laptop into Nigels hand, quickly explaining what he wanted. igel said it could be done within half an hour.

"Make it a quick on," Woody said. "Every second we spend sitting around means the more danger Jordan is in and the less chance we have of finding her if they're on the move." he finished.

Not ten minutes later, a record for Nigel, he got a match.

"Woody, Macy come quick! We've got results!" he said.

Woody and Garret were there in a heartbeat.

"What'd'ya got Nige?" Garret asked.

"We have results," Nigel pulled a map up onto the screen for both Garret and Woody to see.

"As you can see, what we have here is awfully strange," he said, motioning to the screen that both Woody and Garret's eyes were glued to.

"This email, was sent from the middle of nowhere, literally." Nigel said. "There's this huge bog just on the outskirts of Boston, and this email, was sent from the middle of it,"


	5. Under The Mud

Jordan refused to blink. She needed to seem strong, invincable. And even though her eyes were watering and her heart was hammering against her rib cage, not once did her eye lids meet the bottom of her eyes. Only after he bean talking again did she allow herself to close her eyes, though only momentarily.

"Glad to see you've made it here in one piece," he said, he voice more menacing then ever.

"Now why exactly would you want that? I mean, if you're after revenge, why would you want me here safe?" she asked, masking her trembeling voice with hatred.

"Well, the answer to that is simple," he began. "We leave the torture and killing to the man who requested your being here. We each get to inflict the same amount of pain as was inflicted upon us to the people who put us away. You are not mine, therefor you have to wait until Carlos Montgomery is ready for you. That time is not now," he finfished with a smirk.

Jordan wanted to say so many things and it was killing her to keep them inside. But she figured it would be better to be killed by not talking then to be pounded to a pulp or worse by saying some smart-ass remark. Oh, eventually it would all come spilling out, but not right now, not while she knew so little.

"SO then what can I help you with?" she asked with mock sincerity.

He didnt relpy but walked across the room, the sound of his hard, leather boots echoing off the stone walls. When he reached her, she stood her ground. She didnt blink, she didnt even flinch when he grabbed her arm, hard, with his rough, dirty hands and dragged her over to the door, slamming it shut behind them. Even then he didnt answer her, but at least Jordan had a little more sense of where she was. She was being led down a narrow corridor, no windows, hardly any light. The only light was coming from torches set in brackets eery so often along the walls, the flames flickering as they passed. Jordan felt as though she was in something out of the movies, or at least the eighteen hundreds. She let him drag her into a room at the end of the corridor where a man was standing, half his face in shadows. The body builder-sized man finally let go of her arm and threw her farther into the room where she was locked in. She studdied the new room where she was in. It was identical to the other room she had just come from. Absolutly nothing to help with her location.

"Ah Dr. Cavanaugh, long time no see," he said. Jordan still couldnt see the other half of his face.

"Why dont you come out of the shadows? Or are you afraid?" she asked, her voice dripping with hatred.

With half his mouth curled up in a smirk, he stepped into the light, Jordan instantly regreting her demand. He saw the look on her face when he emerged into the light. She had flinched. Bt it was hard not to. What she saw was sickening yet heartbreaking, even though the man was standing there with a gun in his hand, threatening to make an attempt on her life. The side of his face that had been in the shadows was burned beyond recognition. The white of his eyes was black, blending in with the rest of his eye, giving the apperance of a black, empty socket. His lips were gone, or at least as gone as you could get. His cheek was entirely black, burnt to a crisp. And as for his ear, what ear? There was nothing there. Jordan gasped, then clasped her hand over her mouth.

"Retched isn't it?" he asked her.

Jordan didnt relpy.

"You see this?" he asked, pointing to the burnt side of his face. "This is because of you," he said.

Jordan finally regained her composure. "Me? How is that? I'm not the one that burnt off half your face," she said.

"Oh no? Actually you are. Your testimony put me behind bars. And in prison, being an accomplice to the murder of an extremly popular and wealthy woman isnt praise worthy. One of the prisoners got ahold of a lighter and...POOF! Half my face went up in a ball of fire. All thanks to you Miss Cavanaugh," he said.

"Actually, I prefer _Dr_ Cavanaugh," she replied.

The remark got her a smash on the head with the butt of the gun and before she could help it, she colapsed in a heap on the ground.

oooooooooooo

Woody and Garret hopped into Woodys patrol car and sped faster then they ever had to the middle of nowhere, Woody at the wheel of course. Neither one had said a word to eachother sice getting in the car. They were both to pumped up on adreneline and worry to talk. They had raced out of the morgue after recieving a possible lead, Woody calling in for backup as he sped along the highway.

"Woody slow down," Garret said. "The last thing we need is two more bodies,"

Woody slowed down, but only just enough so that he could turn at look at Garret every couple of seconds. "So you think she's dead?" Woody asked, concern etched into every sylable.

Garret sighed. "Woody... I really don't know. I just dont wanna get my hopes up, only to have them come crashing down around me when..if..she's dead. It hurts too much. Sometimes it's just easier to assume that she's no longer alive," he said.

Woody couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're serious?" he asked.

"Yes I'm serious. And I think that maybe you should do the same Hoyt. Just assume so that if she's dead, it'll be easier to pick up the pieces. Now I' not saying to give up hope, because without hope we have nothing, but just try to see it like I do,"

"No. I would have sensed something if she was dead. Don't you think that, after knowing her for this long and being this close with her, one of us would have sensed it? Been able to tell that she was in trouble?" Woody asked, refusing to give up the one thing he was holding on to tighter and tighter with every passing moment; hope.

Garret sighed, slightly admiring yet slightly annoyed with the hope that Woody was clinging to.

"Alright Hoyt. Hold on to her. And don't let go,"Garret said, his eyes never leaving the road ahead of them.

"We're almost there," Woody said, changing the subject, a relief to them both.

"Woody what exactly are we gonna do when we get there, scour the bog for a laptop?" Garret asked, trying to put some humor in the situation.

Woody just threw him a look.

"Ok, fine. But seriously Hoyt, what's the plan?"

"I don't know Garret. I really dont. Maybe we'll fine some sort of hut or cabin that someone built there, or a scrap of paper with an adress that we can look at. Something. Anything. The uncertainty is killing me," Woody said.

"Well enough with the maybe's," Garret said, "We're here," he finished as they pulled up into the parking lot of the bog. Woody looked around, backup wasn't there yet.

"I'm not waiting Macy. I going without them. Are you with me or not?" Woody asked.

Garret looked around uncertainly, as though something in the sky was going to answer Woody for him.

"Somtime today Macy! Stop stalling," and without waiting for an actual answer, Woody walked off, leaving Garret to come running after him.

ooooooooooo

Jordan peeled her aching body off the hard floor, proping herself up on her elbows. She looked around the room, realising that she was back in her origial cell, Veronica sitting beside her, waiting for her to wake up.

"Hey sleepy head," she told her, grabbing her elbow and helping Jordan to a sitting position. "How's the head?"

In a sitting position, Jordan could feel the full extent of her throbbing head. She had a concusion, there was no doubt about it.

"How long have I been out?" Jordan asked, gently running her fingers through her hair, careful to avoid contact with her scalp.

"A couple hours. They dumped you back in here only twenty minutes after they took you out. You've been out since. It looks like they did a number on you. What weapon of choice did they use?" she asked. Jordan could hear the sincere concern in her voice.

"The butt of a gun," Jordan replied.

"How origanal," Veronica said, causing Jordan to let out a little laugh.

"Normally they use far more slow and painful methods. German finger traps, bear traps, quite cruel really," Veronica said.

"No, really?" Jordan asked, her voice dripping with scarcasm. This time it was Veronicas turn to laugh.

"You ok?" she asked Jordan.

"Ya. I'll be fine. Just as soon as I get out of this place,"

ooooooooooo

Woody and Garret pulled on their boots and waded through the bog, Woody pulling and pushing aside every weed and tumble to look for anything suspicious. Garret was doing the same. With determination even Jordan would admire, they searched tirelessly, never giving up their search. After four hours of seaching, Woody finally found something useful. Up until then, all they had found was a rubber boot, a empty bag of pot, some old soup cans, a cardboard box full of used tissues, and a plastic knife and fork. Woody bent down oer his newest discovery. At first glance, it looked like nothing more than a large piece of flat wood, pressing the reeds into the ground with its' weight. But Woody was smarter than that. He bent down, shoving his fingers under the board and prying it up from the mud and muck. What lay under the piece of wood was puzzeling. Woody looked up at Garret who was watching from over his shoulder. His expression was one of wonder. Woody looked back down to the mud. What lay under the wood was another board, this one looked like a part of the ground. It was a fairly big peice of wood, slightly smaller then the one that was once on top of it, but big enough for a fairly large man to fit through. Only this peice of wood had a handle on it. Woody took another look at Garret who nodded in encouragement. Woody looked back down at the ground and grasped the rope handle in his hand, pulled, and the board sprang up. Woody looked down. Where the wood had been, there was now a hole, a big, gapping hole. On the side of one of the walls, a rope ladder was thrown down into the black oblivion. Woody stared down it, trying to adjust his eyes to the dark.

"I'm going down Garret," Woody said.

"No. No way Hoyt. Backup isnt here yet. I'm not letting you go down there alone," Garret said. Then it dawned on him. "...You didn't call backup did you Woody?" Garret asked.

Woody looked guilitily up at Garret. He got his answer.

"Then come with me," Woody said.

Garret sighed but gave in. The pleading look on Woodys face was killing him. Garret withdrew a flashlight from his bag and handed it to Woody. He took it gratfully and heaved himself carefully down the hole, finding each step with his feet. A few feet below, Jordan and Veroica looked up, hearing a clanking.


	6. Finding My Way Back To You

Jordan looked up to the ceiling then back down to Veronicas face which was looking at her.

"Don't get to excited," she said. "It's just one of them coming down. Happens all the time," she told Jordan.

"Well aren't we just little miss sunshine?" Jordan mocked.

"I mean it. I've been in here long enough to stop getting my hopes up. Everytime I heard that retched clanking I thought it was someone coming to save me. But after that clanking, another thug comes in here for a torture session. The sound is like the bells of hell warning me that there's danger to come," Veronica said.

Jordan understood what she meant. But she coulnd't help hoping that maybe, just maybe, someone was coming to save them, to make all their problems go away.

XXXXXXXXXX

Woody found the next step with the flashlight, then carefully placed his foot on the step where the beam was held. Then shot the light back up for the step under Garret for him to see as well. Woody didn't care how awkward climbing down this tunnel was, as long as Jordan was at the bottom, safe and sound for him to wrap his arms around. He had tuned out the beating of his heart which was hammering painfully against his chest. not wanting to think about exactly what lay at the bottom. He just kept climbing down, hoping to God that Jordan was ok. Finally, they reached the bottom. Woody dropped himself from the tunnel then held his hand out for Garret to take and help down. When Garret was beside him, the two of them looked around, sizing up the trouble they were in. It was a cold, dank room. Stone walls with the occasional torch mounted on the wall, one lonely door on the opposite side of the room. Woody looked at Garret who said, "After you,". Woody walked across the room, paying no attention to the steady dripping of water from the the ceiling. When he reached the door, he pressed his ear against it, trying to see if he could hear voices of any sort. There were none. Grabbing the handle and swallowing his fear, he turned and pushed, leading the way into a hall exactly like the room they had come out of. Garret could hear Woodys heaving breathing in front of him. He wanted so bad to lean over and comfort the detective, but his own sorrows were weighing him down. They looked left, then right, trying to decide which way to take, Woody's handle on the metal instrument in his holster. To the right was another door at the end of the hall, the left, the same thing.

"Pick your poision," Woody said, coating the fear in his voice with collectiveness.

"Right," Garret said, not giving himself time to consider his decision.

Woody nodded and turned right, walking down the narrow hall. The emptyness and quiet was unsetteling. He wished someone would just jump out, at least then they would know they were in the right place and they weren't alone. When he got to the door, Woody pushed it open and looked inside. It was dark, to dark to see. Woody flicked on the flashlight and waved the beam around the room. This one was almost the same again. Woody was tired of the sameness of all the room. But as he looked around this one, one door stood out more than the others. It was heavier than the others, a pad lock placed in the middle. Woody turned around to look at Garret.

"Is she's here, my money's on the the fact that she's in there," Garret said, offering Woody encouragment.

Woody nodded and walked over to the door, pressing his hands against it.

"Jordan!" he called through it. "Jordan are you in there!"

On the other side of the door, Jordan and Veronica both looked up, hearing a faint but distinct voice on the other side. Jordan slowly stood up, listenig again.

"Jordan! Jordan!" Woody called again.

It finally clicked for Jordan. She hauled herself off the floor and walked over to the door.

"Woody! Woody is that you!" she yelled.

Woody heard her.

"Jordan!" The relief was apparent in his voice. "Jordan are you ok? Garret and I are both here! We're gonna get you out!" he said.

Jordan could feel the tears welling up inside her eyes. "They're here," shetold Veronica. "They're really here!"

Veronica was overjoyed too. But back on the otherside of the door, Woody and Garrets enthusiam was quickly evaporating. They had found Jordan all right, but how were they gonna get her out? The lock was thick, there was no way it was coming off without a key.

"Garret you look for something to pry open that lock. I'm gonna go talk to Jordan," Woody said. Garret nodded. Woody walked over to the door and yelled through it.

"Jordan? Are you ok in there?" Woody asked, trying to keep his tone casual.

"Ya I'm fine. Are you getting us out?" she asked.

"Us?" Woody asked back.

"Oh ya. You're failiar with the Donovan case right? Missing M.E from California," Jordan said.

"Ya. I'm familiar with it. Why?" Woody asked.

"Well Veronica Donovan is in here with me. She's been in here for five months," Jordan answered. Woody drew in a breath, though not one loud enough for Jordan to hear.

"Are the two of you ok?" Woody asked.

"Ya we're both fine. Relativly speaking," Jordan said. "Just get us out and we'll be even better," she finished.

"I'll be right back Jo. I'm not leaving you, just leaving the door. Holler if you need me," Woody said, leaving to door and walking over to Garret who was holding up a pair of gardening shears.

"How 'bout this?" he asked Woody.

"It'll have to do," Woody said, taking the shears from Garret. Woody walked back over to the door. "Jordan we're gona cut the lock. Don't mind the noise," he informed her. On the other side of the door, Jorda nodded even though Woody and Garret couldn't see her. She back slowly away from the door, putting her hands over her ears and motioning for Veronica to do the same. With a crisp, swift movement, Woody sliced the lock clean in half. He hauled it off the door and tugged on the handle, pulling the door open. Seeing Jordan standing there made him want to cry all over again. He stood there for only a second before running over to Jordan and wrpaaing her in his arms, refusing to let go. Garret walked over to Veronica and wrapped his arms around her, giving her the first kind human touch she had had in five months.

"Woody, my ribs" Jordan gasped.

Woody laughed but loosed his grip and pulled away so he could see her face. But he couldnt handle it. He wrapped his arms back around her, burrying his head in her hair/ Jordan was surprised. After he had pushed her away and refused to see her, but now here he was, his arms gripped so protectively around her. Not that she was complaining. She loved having him back in her arms. And he wasn't letting go, not now, not ever.


	7. Tears

THIS TAKES PLACE AFTER JORDAN, GARRET, WOODY AND VERONICA ESCAPE FROM THE PLACE WHERE JORDAN AND VERONICA WERE BEING HELD CAPTIVE

**ok this is gonna start off a litle confusing but just a heads up...I skipped the escape...EVERYBODY IS BACK SAFE AND SOUND...but fret not the drama is not a shortage. **

"Why do we keep doing this to eachother Woody!" Jordan yelled across her office, red-faced at the man infront of her.

"We Jordan?" Woody asked back, putting emphasis on the word 'we'. "We! You were the one who kept rejecting me! Four years of my life I wasted on trying to get you! Four years I spent trying to get you to admit what we both knew you felt! But no! You're so afraid of getting hurt that instead you hurt me! I'm not doing this anymore Jordan! I can't. You've broken me to many times! No more," The last two words were a whisper. Faint but audiable. He was breaking her. Piece by piece her tore out chunks of her heart and stomped on them.

'_Not like I don't deserve it," _Jordan thought to herself. For once in her life, she couldn't think of anything to say back to him. Normally, she would have just started yelling, her mouth moving and saying words that she didn't give her brain time to register. But not now. If she wanted to stay in his life, even just to see him, she needed to shut her mouth now before she did any more damage. So she did.

"You're right," she said in a whisper.

"What?" Woody asked, believing his ears were decieving him.

"You're right. All the problems we have are because of me. I don't blame you for wanting me out of your life. In fact, I think it's best that you go," The last words weren't what she really wanted. What she wanted was for him to tell her that she was wrong, that none of their problems were her fault. To wrap his strong arms around her and hold her close. But she was afraid that if he stayed and talked to her, that the tears that were threatening to come spilling out were finally going to make their way to the surface. And the only thing worse then losing Woody would be showing him that he was her weakness, that he got to her.

"What?" Woody asked.

"I think it's best if you leave," Jordan said again, masking the fear in her voice with forwardness.

Woody didn't say anything but shook his head in disapointment, then stalked out of the room, not bothering to look back at Jordan. And for the first time, she actually let go of her emotions. Hot tears spilled over her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She braced her back against the wall to stop her body from raking with sobs. She tilted her head backwards, trying her best to stop the sobs, but the attepmt was futile. She slid down the wall until she was sitting, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them protectivly, now sobbing into her knees. There was no point in trying to stop crying now, she might as well get it out of her system and be done with it. She was so absorbed in her emotions that she didn't hear the door open. Woody poked his head inside back, feeling bad about how he had left things and looked around the room. Innitially he didn't see her.

"Jordan?" he asked, still looking around the room and finally spotting her on the floor. His heart broke at the sight of her. He closed the door behind him as he walked into the office and walked over to her, crouching beside her fraile body.

"Jordan? Jordan what's wrong?" It wasn't the same tone he usually took with her. It was the tone of someone who cared, the old Woody, someone who wanted more than anything to take away her pain.

"Jordan? Please. Just tell me whats wrong," It wasn't a demand, it was a plea. His voice cracked as he talked to her despite his best efforts.

"I'm sorry Woody. I'm so sorry. All of this is my fault. If I hand't been so stupid, so stubborn, then maybe we could have had a chance. And I don't blame you for pushing me away. I really don't," Jordan said through her tears.

Woody was speechless. But his brain seemed to register the fact that Jordan needed him for the first time. She needed him to be her rock, to be the one thing that she could depend on. And he wasn't going to turn her down.

"Jordan this isn't your fault. We're both at fault for our relationship. Or lack-there-of." Wody said, moving to sit beside her. "I can promise you this, we are both to stubborn for our own good. Neither one of us are willing to admit when we're wrong. But the fact that you've taken this huge step in admiting your faults, means a lot to me. And to tell you the truth, I was just mad at your timing. I was happy that you told me what I wanted to hear, but I was afraid that you were gonna hurt me. And I'm more sorry then you will ever know about puching you away, but I done now. I wanna be in your life. That is if you'll have me. And I'm not gonna blame you if you dont. I've been a total ass to you and I deserve any kind of revenge you seek on me," Woody said, hardly stopping to take a breath.

Jordan finally looked up from her lap and stared into Woodys blue eyes which were warm and enviting again, like they were before he had been shot. Jordan knew what she wanted to say, that she loved him and she wanted nothing more than to be in his life, but the words seemed to get lost somewhere between her brain and her mouth. So she nodded. Woody smiled. He placed his arm around her shoulders, allowing Jordan to rest her head on his shoulder.

"I promise, you and I are gonna make it through this. No matter how hard it is. You have my word," Woody said, sincerly meaning that he wanted his relationship with Jordan to work.

Jordan looked up from his shoulder and into his eyes. He waited for her to do something. She hesitated, then made up her mind. She placed her hand on the side of his face, her fingers resting gently o his cheek then moved her face in, meeting her lips with his. It started off gentle, then became more passionate. When she pulled apart, she said, " I want this to work too,"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**OK THERE'S MORE TO COME! AND NO SHORTAGE OF DRAMA! YOU KNOW THE DRILL...REVIEW AND I'LL POST MORE...ACTUALLY I'LL POST MORE WETHER YOU REVIEW OR NOT BUT I'LL BE MORE INCLINED TO POST IF YOU REPLY!**

**LOVE MEGAN!**


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